ISS Responds to Mayor Bloomberg's Call for More Smart Cameras

WOODBRIDGE, N.J., May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Intelligent Security Systems (ISS), the industry leader in video management and image analytic software, and which recently expanded its SecurOS License Plate Recognition (LPR) system to all fifty U.S. states, commented today on the attempted bombing in Times Square on May 1st, and Mayor Bloomberg's call for more "smart cameras."  

The Mayor is in London this week to observe the highly intelligent camera system known as the "ring of steel" that is employed in London, a state-of-the-art cyber video and data collection network.  New York City plans to spend $200 million on 3000 such cameras for Lower Manhattan  and eventually expand it to Manhattan.  Such cameras could alert authorities to suspicious packages, a car parked in a turning lane (as happened with the Times Square bombing suspect) and would also include both mobile and fixed LPR systems.

"Related to LPR, what is significant here is that the suspect in question entered New York City with a stolen plate, apparently taken off a car at a repair shop in Connecticut," said Aluisio Figueiredo, Chief Operating Officer at ISS.  "Our company has actually developed very unique LPR that can spot if a license plate does not match the vehicle in question.  It can do that even if the plate has not yet been reported as stolen.  This could have been very helpful in this case, as an alert could have been sent to authorities before the suspect ever entered the city. We completely agree with the Mayor that there is a strong need in New York and other metropolitan areas for highly intelligent cameras and advanced LPR."

ISS, which has deep roots in space technology, has developed advanced algorithms that provide key advantages for LPR, which include faster and more accurate reads, and an overall level of intelligence that was previously only available for government and military applications.  

LPR solutions must ideally be able to read plates accurately at high levels of speed and in all sorts of weather and lighting conditions.  Regardless of whether the images are high resolution and uncompressed or low resolution and compressed, ISS finds the right algorithms to match particular conditions -- lighting, weather, etc. -- and provide the clearest plate recognition possible.  With ISS, the same technology that has been used to provide crystal clear satellite and rocket images now watches over highways, tunnels, workplaces, and public areas and keeps them safer.  

"The bottom line is that you often have just milliseconds to get a read on a license plate and get it right," said Wolfgang Ritter, Director of Sales and Marketing for ISS. " He concluded, "Overall, our solutions are geared to keep pace with high traffic volumes, and instantly provide detailed incident and event information. For Times Square, New York City in general, and other large cosmopolitan centers, LPR can help automate the security process in such a way that it becomes an indispensable part of crime fighting and homeland security efforts."

The highly intelligent LPR of ISS can automatically distinguish an '8' from a 'B', read horizontally as well as vertically -- a crucial differentiator when one needs more information -- and in general instantly know the rules that apply in each case.  Also, ISS LPR recognizes color, which is important when one must know if a plate is particular to a government vehicle, taxi, or a regular citizen, etc., all of which are assigned specific plate colors in certain areas. With that comes the possibility of one sort of vehicle sharing the same or a similar plate number as another vehicle.

The company's SecurAuto LPR software is part of their SecurOS Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), which includes the SecurOS Traffic module, an intelligent image analytics bundle that in addition to incident detection, provides real time traffic flow metrics and statistical analysis.  Whether it's a vehicle traveling too slow or too fast or in the wrong direction, to insufficient gaps in traffic, ITS can immediately send an alarm and provide complex reaction management.  It can also track statistical information on a roadway such as average speed, vehicle counts, and density computations to create extremely robust statistical reports. In addition, it works very well with third party traffic management solutions.

The company's solutions for ITS are currently being deployed around the world, and include the United States, Brazil, and Russia. In Brazil it includes, among other areas, South America's biggest traffic tunnel, and in the US various law enforcement projects in New Jersey, including the cities of Deal, Watchung, Maplewood, and Bradley Beach.

SOURCE Intelligent Security Systems